The Fox and The Fang
by Kayokane
Summary: Marsali Roane a fifteen year-old fox faunus attending Signal Academy in her penultimate year with her younger sister Erin finally begins to reunite with the friends she has estranged herself from for several years. Join her as she is forced to discover the truth behind the murder of her parents. {On Hiatus / Pending Rewrite}
1. Chapter 1

***Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, it is the property of Rooster Teeth.**

* * *

 _Assembly_

The last of the students were entering Signal's auditorium. It was a large room with nearly three thousand seats which was more than enough for the number of students currently attending the academy. Today was the graduation ceremony, so all of the graduating students were standing to the right of the stage waiting for their name to be called so they could accept their certificates.

A silent faunus waited patiently as her teacher monotonously called through the roll and assigned seats for the class. She was about five feet tall, and although her fox-like ears added another two inches, she didn't count them into her height. She had long orange-red hair tied up into a ponytail with the bottom two inches bleached white similar to how the tips of her fox-like ears were coloured. She was wearing violet track pants with a similarly coloured track jacket that was unzipped exposing a white tank top. On the back of her jacket was her symbol, a closed mouth encircled by a fox tail. On her left hand, she wore a dark grey glove that ended just after her elbow. Her deep-set eyes were a dark violet, and her full, heart-shaped lips were slightly pursed in annoyance as she looked to her side.

Beside her was a girl with dark red, nearly black, hair who wore a red cloak. The faunus eyed the girl, whom she disliked because the red-haired annoyance had a natural rose scent to her that provoked the faunus's allergies. It wasn't a life-threatening allergy, so even though she had run out of her allergy medication she wouldn't be able to talk her teacher out of his, oh so obvious, name based seating arrangements.

"Roane, Marsali," The teacher called out making the red-haired faunus turn back towards the teacher.

"Present, Instructor" She answered. Marsali looked to the seat the teacher pointed to and quickly moved to sit down. When she sat down, she hastily activated her semblance. She surrounded herself with a dark violet glow that prevented her from making any sound. It was a helpful tool for when her rose-scented friend finally gets close enough to aggravate her allergies.

"Rose, Ruby," The teacher called out, pointing at the seat beside Marsali.

"Present!" Ruby replied happily, quickly moving to her place with a slight bounce in her step. She noticed Marsali's active semblance immediately, "Uhh, dad, maybe I should sit somewhere else."

"What's the matter with that spot, dear?" The teacher asked finally noticing the glow around Marsali, "Oh, nonsense Ruby, Marsali just doesn't want to disrupt the ceremony!" He added boisterously. Ruby looked like she was going to argue, but seemed to decide against it as she sat down nervously beside Marsali.

 _'Of course, you'd say that Instructor Xiao Long, your daughters could do no harm at all!'_ Marsali thought vehemently. Her head flung forward with a silent sneeze, _'So it begins.'_

The ceremony passed by slowly, and due to her constant sneezing and massive headache Marsali was acutely aware of every single moment. She stared at her scroll confirming how much aura she had left, 'This is taking forever,' Marsali thought to herself as her aura was about halfway depleted meaning she has been maintaining her semblance for about two hours. She could maintain her semblance on herself for well over four hours, though extending it to others was incredibly taxing.

"Yang Xiao Long," A voice called from the stage as a stunningly beautiful, young, blonde-haired woman walked onto the stage waving exuberantly at the audience with a huge smile on her face.

 _'Well, at least, it's almost over,'_ Marsali thought to herself tiredly. Her head jolted forward with another silent sneeze, _'I couldn't survive another hour of this hell.'_ The voice of Signal's headmistress listed out Yang's accomplishments at the combat academy and handed her the certificate to signify her successful graduation.

Marsali rubbed her gloved left hand. _'Two more years before I stand up there myself; though, it should have been three after the incident a few months ago...'_ Marsali flinched, not from a sneeze, but the memory. _'Why didn't I just listen instead of being a haughty little bi-'_ As Marsali recovered from her ten silent sneezes in quick succession she turned to stare daggers at the rose-scented girl beside her. _'Why does the world hate me?'_

The ceremony finished quickly after Yang left the stage since there weren't many people who had last names starting with Y or Z. Marsali was happy when Instructor Xiao Long finally dismissed the class from the auditorium, _'And our summer break finally begins!'_ Marsali thought happily as she left the school. She still had to wait for her sister before she left the academy's grounds, but she knew it wouldn't be long before the younger girl arrived.

While Marsali waited for her sister, she pulled out her scroll to check her bank account. Her brother Gorm deposited money into the account biannually from his job off in one of the other kingdoms; Marsali didn't know which since Gorm was very tight-lipped about his work. Marsali usually didn't have to worry about money because of her brother, but due to the medical expenses from her incident a few months ago she realized her funds wouldn't make it through the summer.

She didn't have any way to contact her brother as he usually sent messages to her through the academy and none of the letters he sent had a return address. Marsali looked through the contacts on her scroll, many of whom she hadn't spoken to throughout the previous year, she finally found a name she felt she could trust and dialed the number.

"Hello, this is Sapphire Azura. Who might I be speaking to?" A voiced answered coldly from the other end of the line. From the tone of her voice, Marsali knew she recognized her number.

"Hey Sapph, it's Mars." She replied nervously.

"You have one minute to tell me what you want, Roane." Sapphire's tone made Marsali confident this wouldn't go well.

"I- I need a favour," Marsali's voice was timid and quiet. She was afraid Sapphire would ignore her request, but she had to try. "Yo- You see, I'm worried that I don't have the money to continue supporting Erin, and the money Gorm sends me won't be coming until the start of the school year..."

"Stop there." Sapphire interrupted, "I know you well enough to know you aren't asking for money, so I take it you want me to ask my parent's if Erin can stay over for the summer, correct?"

"Yes," Marsali's voice betrayed a hint of glee at her former friend's quick understanding of the situation."

"One condition," Sapphire said curtly, a hint of warmth showing in her voice.

"Anything!" Marsali replied a bit too quickly.

"You'll be joining us as well." The condition came with a short but joyful giggle.

"I- but. What?" She was dumbfounded at what Sapphire said.

"Marsali, I know things have been rough for you these past two years. I'm going to make this clear; I am your friend, and I'm not going to let you live on the streets again."

"How did you-!?"

"Please give me some credit, I know what happened the week before your parents were murdered. I just wish you'd have a little more faith in our friendship."

"I- I- Thank you Sapph." Marsali was overjoyed she still had at least one friend with her despite how she acted over the past two years.

The two said their goodbyes and Marsali hung up just in time to see her younger sister hopping along towards her. Erin was younger than her sister by a year, and also attended Signal. She wore her Signal Academy uniform, a dark green skirt with a matching jacket over top of a white dress shirt. Her hair was the same colour as Marsali's but was cut short in a messy bob cut. Her eyes were also the same vibrant violet as her sisters and shone with an intensity of joy that her older sister was only recently rediscovering for herself.

"Who were you talking to Mars," the shorter faunus asked. Her eyes showing a hint of worry, "Was it Gorm?"

"No, no, Eri, I was talking to Sapphire. You remember her don't you?" Marsali replied with a smile

"I remember her. You two use to be inseparable!" She shouted with a giggle.

"Well, we'll be staying over at her place for a while, so when we get home, I want you to start packing your things."

"Yay, sleepover! Sleepover!" Erin sang as she giggled.

The two faunus then began to walk towards their apartments on the other side of town.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to the end of the first chapter of my first RWBY fanfiction. I haven't done story writing for quite a few years now, and I am just now getting back into the flow of things, so I apologize if things seem stilted or poorly written. I would also like to give special thanks to Jax (8490bytes on tumblr)** **for taking the time to proof-read the chapter for me.**

 **Though Ruby any Yang show up in this part, they (and the other canon characters) won't be overly major players in this story. Other than that the story will be sticking as closely to canon as a Signal-based OC-centric story can.**

 **Thank you for taking the time to read the story and I hope that you enjoy it.**

 **~Kayokane**

 **Edit: I found out from Jax that he is not the JaxtheWanderer on this site, so in order to avoid confusion he wanted me to use his** **tumblr** **name instead.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. It is the property of Rooster Teeth._**

* * *

Azura

Marsali stared at the slightly large two-story building she was walking to as her sister skipped lightly a few steps ahead of her. The building was painted a stunning cerulean blue and was surrounded by a white picket fence. At the gate, there was a sign saying 'The Azure Palace' written in a light blue on top of a black background and encircled by worn coloured marks that Marsali assumed were meant to represent the gemstones and jewellery that the Azura family was known for. Past the fence was a garden. Marsali scoffed slightly seeing the arrangement of coloured flowers that took up about half the yard.

"You remembered your medication, right Mars?" Erin asked worriedly after hearing her sister scoff.

In response, Marsali pulled the bottle out of her pocket and shook it. "Yup, refilled it yesterday while you were bugging Amy." She said chuckling lightly, "I'm glad I did, though. I forgot how large Sapph's garden was. It's almost beautiful when I'm not sneezing my brains out, you know."

"So the fox can sit and enjoy the flowers," A voice called from the garden and a head poked up from some of the taller plants. "I'm sure I know a rose that would be happy to hear that." The voice belonged to Sapphire's father, Slate Azura.

Slate was a relatively tall man, roughly six feet and seven inches tall, but was also somewhat thin and lanky. His short cut brown hair was peppered with grey and white, and he had sharp, brilliant blue eyes. The man always loved working with his hands, whether it be gardening, drawing or working on the jewellery his family was famous for. Slate did these things mainly as an escape from his day job of managing the many precious metal mines he inherited from his father; Gold, silver, platinum, the Azura family had it all. Rumors swirled that someone was trying to buy out the family mines, Marsali wondered if it was for the supposedly rich veins of dust they held.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she would," Marsali replied laughing a bit, "But I would appreciate it if you kept this between us... If she found out I'd never be rid of her." Her thoughts drifted to the idea of the red-haired rose-scented demon following her around like a lost puppy, and she shuddered. "Pretty please," She added.

"Well, since you asked so nicely," Slate said laughing heartily, "Oh and Sapphire is inside with Willow. I believe she's being drilled in some dust and gem-cutting techniques, so you may want to keep it down for a bit. I'm sure you remember where the guest room is, Marasali."

Marsali nodded curtly and began walking towards the house. Her sister, who was distracted by the flowers near the entrance of the garden, noticed her going inside and followed suit herself. Inside there was a large room filled with tables; people at these tables were discussing custom orders they wanted with some of the workers. At the far end of the room, there was a counter with a register on it and behind that there were two doors. The first door led to the workshops where the customer orders were made, and the second led upstairs, this is where the sisters were headed.

At the top of the stairs, there was a small and cozy common area with a light brown leather couch sitting across the room from a nice large TV. Directly in front of the couch was a small wooden coffee table with a vase of dreadful daisies on it, and beside the TV was a door that led to the kitchen and dining room. Beside the stairs, there was a hallway. Along the left side of the hallway was two doors, the closer door led to Sapphire's room, and the other door led to her parents' room. On the right side, there were three doors that led to the bathroom, a closet, and the guest room.

Erin and Marsali entered the guest room. It looked fairly cramped with its three beds and dressers, 'Wait, three?' Marsali looked surprised as she surveyed the room and spotted a short girl on the third bed.

"Yo!" The girl called out as she raised her hand in greeting. She was Amethyst Dryad, a four-foot tall girl with waist long wavy brown hair. She had large emerald green eyes with a dimple on her cheek just below her right eye, and a wide cheshire grin that predicted trouble. She was wearing a simple creamy purple coloured thick cotton shirt with matching pants. Without the heavy looking full plate suit of armour she usually wore her pale white skin and small stature made her look frail and sickly.

"Hiya Amy!" Erin said cheerfully, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you and Mars were coming over to stay for a bit, and I thought the more, the merrier, so I talked Sapph into letting me stay over as well." Amethyst replied, "Don't worry my parents know I'm here."

"This time" Marsali added, sighing.

"One time Mars, one time!" Amy mock-whined. "How was I supposed to know they'd report me missing!"

The three girls all laughed and continued to converse so that they could catch up on each others lives over the past year. Half an hour later their conversation was halted by a soft but curt knock on the door.

The door opened to reveal Sapphire; a girl with perfectly straight shoulder length blonde hair and piercing ocean blue eyes. Her skin was porcelain white not naturally pale like Amy's skin, but doctored through a regimen of creams and makeup to look perfect. She wore a long stunning white and blue striped dress and gloves of the purest white. Over top of her gloves, she wore four rings on her right hand, and three on her left each with a different coloured crystal on it. Though at first glance they looked like gemstones, they were actually dust crystals and were Sapphire's primary weapon. Around her neck was an unusual amulet inlaid with many sapphires, all of different colours, surrounding a larger blue sapphire the stood as the necklace's centrepiece.

"I'm so glad you could make it, Mars," Sapphire said with her beautifully melodic voice.

"I'm so happy that you forced me to be here as well, Sapph," Marsali retorted with a smile, "I honestly was not looking forward to the alternative. Too many bad memories you know."

Sapphire frowned slightly while Erin looked confused. Amethyst's eyes were wide with shock.

"Wait, you weren't planning on staying here, Mars? Where woul- Oh." Amy started as Sapphire glared daggers at her. Her head dropped slightly as she realized what Marsali meant.

"Uh, Sapph, could we speak in private for a bit?" Marsali asked, changing the subject.

"Sure, follow me," Sapphire replied leading the faunus to her room.

Marsali entered the room nervously, checking to make sure the others didn't follow them before closing the door. She had a weary smile on her face as she fingered the fox tail medallion hanging from her neck.

Sapphire stared a Marsali with a hint of curiosity, "What's up Mars?"

"Well I've been thinking about a gift for Erin, and I wanted your help with it."

"By wanted you mean needed, don't you?" Sapphire said with a haughty smile, "Whatever you need me to make, I'll be sure to give you a nice discount." She added with a wink.

"Yes, and thank you," Marsali replied with a slightly annoyed tone. 'Would be nice if you didn't have to rub it in all the time.' The errant thought shot through her mind, "I want to make her a bracelet. One with a fox tail motif, like my necklace."

"Ahh, I see. You want to give her that fox tail ceremony. The one your mother gave you eight years ago, right?"

"Yeah, she's always been fond of that old folktale. I'm certain that she thinks it's true and, well, she pretty much single-handedly kept me together these past two years. I believe that it'll mean a lot to her if I do this. What do you say?"

"I'm in. I can talk to my mom to get some of the finer details about how your mother wanted the medallion made. Don't worry Mars; Erin will love this."

* * *

 **A/N: Hello again, here we are at the end of chapter two of 'The Fox and The Fang.' Again I would like to thank** **Jax (8490bytes on tumblr)** **for proof-reading the story for me, and I would also like to thank all of you who are reading the story. I hope you all are enjoying the story, and would greatly appreciate it if any of you would give me a review and some feedback on how the story is going so far.**

 **See you all in Chapter 3!**

 **~Kayokane**

 **Edit: I found out from Jax that he is not the JaxtheWanderer on this site, so in order to avoid confusion he wanted me to use his tumblr name instead.**


End file.
